More than 40% of nurses at municipal hospitals experience ‘power harassment’: union survey

May 14, 2019

More than 40% of nurses have experienced “power harassment” mainly by superiors and doctors, the Japan Federation of Prefectural and Municipal Workers’ Unions (Jichiroren) on May 13 announced in regard to the results of its survey on the working conditions of municipal hospital workers.

The survey, which was conducted in September and October in 2018, received responses from 12,725 workers at local government-run medical institutions in 97 municipalities. Nurses made up the largest portion (67.7%) of the respondents.

In the survey, regarding a question about workplace harassment, 20.5% of nurses answered that they were subjected to sexual harassment. Of them, 60% said that they were harassed by patients. As for other types of harassment, 42.8% of nurses reported that they experienced “power harassment” from their supervisors (56.1%) and doctors (32%).

The survey also cast light on the degree of exhaustion of nurses. Among nursing staff surveyed, 43.3% and 31.6% said that they feel totally exhausted “every day” and “sometimes”, respectively. In addition, a very large percentage (78.3%) of nurses answered that they think about leaving the profession “often” or “sometimes”. The major reasons cited in the survey responses were “excessively heavy workloads due to labor shortages”, “low wages”, and “having difficulty getting time off”.

Furthermore, of 11,450 workers who said that they work overtime routinely, 82.1% complained that they are often forced to work overtime without pay.

Jichiroren expressed its determination to work to achieve staffing structures reflecting the actual workload, shorter working hours, and the elimination of all forms of harassment in hospitals.